The WWE superstar, billed at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, looks like he doesn't have an ounce of fat on him – when Dean Ambrose handed him a doughnut on an episode of Raw earlier this year, it was treated as a joke – but as Balor told the Sentinel on Thursday, he doesn't have a strict workout regimen.

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"When we're on the road five days a week, I just work out whenever I can," said Balor, an Irishman who now lives in Orlando. "I started playing soccer when I was 6 years old and started lifting weights when I was 16, so it's not like I never exercised. Now it's just about maintenance – a little strength training, nothing too crazy."

So why the note about missing Sunday's crunches?

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"I just wrote it to get a giggle out of some people," Balor said.

Balor is preparing for SummerSlam on Aug. 20, when he'll face Bray Wyatt. The show, one of WWE's biggest of the year, will be available exclusively on the streaming WWE Network.

Balor's workouts were a lot more intense last fall and winter as he worked to rehabilitate an injured shoulder, which he suffered at last year's SummerSlam. He was kept off WrestleMania 33 in Orlando this April despite being fully healed – an omission that still frustrates him.

"I was obviously heartbroken not to be included at WrestleMania," Balor said. "There was talk about putting me in the Royal Rumble [in January] but when I missed that deadline by a week or 10 days, everything was put on hold [creatively]. WrestleMania just wasn't meant to be."

Instead, Balor was unveiled the following night during Raw at Amway Center, earning one of the loudest cheers of the night.

"That night was definitely a weight lifted off my shoulders," Balor said. "The crowd was incredible – a real hometown-boy reaction. It was very poetic that I made my return back in Orlando."

Since returning to Raw, Balor has been chasing the WWE Universal championship, which he gave up last year after his injury. Wyatt, a big brawler and former WWE champion, is the next obstacle in his quest.

"Bray is an interesting cat," Balor said. "I've admired him for a long time. I think he's one of the most underrated talents we have in the ring and on the mic, if you can ever get the mic off of him. He's a huge man – it'll be hard to get a hold on him when I can't get my arms around him – but I look forward to adapting my style for him. I'm a big fan of seeing smaller guys vs. big men."

Balor, now 36, was one of the world's most decorated and respected professional wrestlers even before he joined WWE's NXT brand three years ago. Then known as Prince Devitt, he won numerous championships in Japan, Mexico and around the world and was a founding member of the Bullet Club, a mega-popular stable which formed in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He said his goals as a wrestler have changed immensely since his debut at age 18 in the year 2000.

"When I first broke in, I wanted to be the best technical wrestler on the planet," Balor said. "That was what I enjoyed, being in the ring in the moment and being the best athlete. When I was about 12 years in, something clicked and I realized there was more to it than that, the performance side of it."

In 2012-13, the time Balor is referring to, he began a yearlong run as IWGP junior heavyweight champion in New Japan, became a villain for the first time in the promotion, and formed the Bullet Club. Since then, his career has done nothing but get better. He now refers to his own fan base as the Balor Club, an obvious nod to his past alliance.

"We all grow and change as people; that was just when my goals shifted and my career changed. That's where I am now as a performer," Balor said. "One day, it may shift again and I'll be doing backflips all the time like [fellow wrestlers] Ricochet or Neville, but this is where I am now."

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SummerSlam airs at 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20, from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, one night after an NXT TakeOver special featuring the best of the Orlando-based brand. For ordering information, visit wwenetwork.com.